How Millennials Shape the Future of Work

In early 2015, millennials surpassed generation X to become the largest generation in the U.S. workforce. Their sheer number (53.5 million strong and more on the way) is bound to impact the future of work, but it’s their unconventional attitudes and values that may have the most long-lasting effects on the notion of “business as usual.” Below is a look at what these tech-savvy, outside-the-box thinkers bring to the table, and how they’ll mold the future of work.

Collaboration and Coaching

Sure, older colleagues may snicker at all of those “participation” ribbons millennials received as kids, but the everyone-is-valuable spirit instilled then may pay off now.

“Millennials love camaraderie,” says Brad Karsh, CEO and founder of JB Training Solutions and co-author of Manager 3.0: A Millennial’s Guide to Rewriting the Rules of Management. “They want to know the opinion of everyone on the team. To millennials, working together is the best way to find a solution for an important problem. Issuing orders isn’t the way to do things; they want everyone’s voice to be heard.”

To assist them in being part of the solution, millennials believe they deserve to know the whole story and have a great distaste for confidentiality based on hierarchy. As Karsh notes, “Millennials want companies and leaders to be transparent in order to build trust and respect; millennials lifted the cloud of secrecy from the executive board room.”

Further adding to this team-oriented mentality is the ease with which millennials can convey information. While circulating a memo for input or gathering everyone together in one place for a meeting used to be cumbersome, modern technology makes it possible for virtually anyone anywhere to get up to speed quickly and add his or her two cents.

Flexibility at Work

Technology also undoubtedly has affected this generation’s notion of what it means to go to work. When a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey asked millennials what they thought their work schedule would be looking forward, only a quarter of respondents believed they’d be keeping regular office hours. Thirty-eight percent imagined a mixture of traditional hours and flexibility, while nearly a third anticipated flexible hours as the norm.

“Millennials are open to how the job gets done,” Karsh says. “They don’t like to be confined to a 9-5 and are less concerned with the ‘where’ and ‘when,’ but more with the quality of work. ‘I know what the deliverable is and when it needs to be met. Why should how I get it done be regulated?’”

Balance All Aspects of Life

Finally, millennials will continue pushing everyone to think about the relationship between one’s job and other areas of life. They see little reason why the professional and the personal can’t mesh to the benefit of both spheres. As Karsh notes, “Millennials are not workaholics, and there is no clear boundary between work and life. They have adopted a true work-life integration, not just work-life balance.”

Readers, are you a millennial? How do you see your generation shaping the future of work? Share with us below!